Chapter 167
Chapter 167
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 167
Chapter Title: Beast Tide Eruption, Flying Spirit Boat
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In the River Street Vista Pavilion of the Hundred Treasures House, Chen Jianghe sat on a pearwood bench, watching the spirit beast koi swimming freely in the river.
These koi were all early first-rank spirit beasts. They were lovely to look at, but to mortals, they posed a significant danger.
The water arrows they spat could pierce through mundane armor.
"Being put on display for cultivators to admire is a much better fate than that of the green-scaled fish of Mirror Moon Lake. It's quite nice, really."
Thinking of the green-scaled fish and white egrets of Mirror Moon Lake, Chen Jianghe couldn't help but feel a touch of emotion.
Especially when he thought of the egrets that diligently delivered letters.
In the past, he had been curious why the large green fish, which even junior Fishery Farmers were forbidden to eat, could be fed to the egrets to have them help deliver letters.
It turned out this was to give the egrets a chance to transform into spirit beasts.
Egrets weren't valuable, but after becoming spirit beasts, they were worth a lot, especially in Qinghe Market City, where their value increased even more.
A whole roasted egret was worth nine spirit stones at the Qinghe Restaurant.
"Fellow cultivator, I have successfully completed the task. The second-rank talismans have been purchased."
Just then, Chen Ping walked into the River Street corridor and sent a voice transmission, which made Chen Jianghe stand up immediately.
"Thank you, fellow cultivator."
Chen Jianghe walked up to Chen Ping and cupped his hands in thanks.
"No need to be so polite, fellow cultivator. It's just a transaction."
Chen Ping said with a chuckle, reminding Chen Jianghe not to forget the life-saving opportunity he had mentioned earlier.
In Chen Ping's view, Chen Jianghe was likely going to sell him a Foundation Establishment Pill.
For this reason, within the past hour, he had not only gone to Fushou Lane to buy the second-rank talismans but had also borrowed some spirit stones from a few friends.
Foundation Establishment Pills were expensive.
As the second-floor manager of the Hundred Treasures House, he was naturally well aware of this.
Therefore, he had prepared two thousand six hundred spirit stones. Even at auction prices, this was enough to buy a low-quality Foundation Establishment Pill.
If it was a genuine Foundation Establishment Pill, he also had some spiritual items on hand that could be used as payment.
"Rest assured, fellow cultivator."
Chen Jianghe smiled calmly. Since he had decided to tell Chen Ping the news, he would naturally not go back on his word.
However, he had a habit when making deals with others.
He had to receive the goods first.
Therefore, he needed to complete the transaction for the second-rank talismans with Chen Ping before he would reveal that a beast tide was about to erupt in Qinghe Market City.
Seeing that Chen Jianghe didn't continue, Chen Ping took a packet of yellow paper from his storage bag, which contained the second-rank talismans.
The River Street Vista was bustling with cultivators; it was impossible to take out second-rank talismans for a transaction without any concealment.
"As you requested, fellow cultivator, there are three second-rank talismans in total: two defensive talismans and one offensive talisman."
"As for the price, the market rate will do."
Chen Jianghe took the yellow paper packet of second-rank talismans, swept his spiritual sense over it, and then put it into his storage bag.
It wasn't that he didn't want to buy escape-type talismans.
It was just that such second-rank talismans were hard to come by; even Chen Ping would have difficulty acquiring them.
He could only settle for the next best thing and buy defensive and offensive talismans.
The market price for second-rank talismans, which was also the purchase price for Foundation Establishment Immortal Clans, was five hundred spirit stones for a second-rank offensive talisman.
A second-rank defensive talisman was worth eight hundred spirit stones.
There was a fundamental difference between second-rank talismans and first-rank spirit charms: second-rank talismans stored energy.
Take a second-rank offensive talisman, for example.
It required simple refinement before it could be used to attack, much like using a magical artifact.
However, it didn't require you to expend your own spiritual power.
A second-rank offensive talisman contained the spiritual power of a Foundation Establishment cultivator.
If the spiritual power wasn't fully consumed after one attack, it could be put away and saved for later use.
Therefore, second-rank talismans were also known as talisman artifacts.
They were extremely troublesome to create, requiring a great deal of mental and spiritual energy over a long period. It was difficult to complete one even in a month.
And the success rate was not high.
"Here are two thousand spirit stones and seven high-grade protective talismans."
Chen Jianghe took out two thousand spirit stones and seven high-grade protective talismans and handed them to Chen Ping.
The two second-rank defensive talismans were worth one thousand six hundred spirit stones.
The one second-rank offensive talisman was worth five hundred spirit stones.
He only had two thousand and eighty-eight spirit stones on him, so he couldn't give them all to Chen Ping. He kept eighty spirit stones for himself and used seven high-grade protective talismans to cover the remaining one hundred.
A high-grade protective talisman was worth twelve spirit stones. With the current twenty percent premium, seven of them were worth one hundred spirit stones and eighty spirit sand.
So, it was a reasonable exchange.
Chen Ping nodded and accepted the spirit stones and talismans.
Then he stared at Chen Jianghe with a burning gaze, clearly hoping to buy a Foundation Establishment Pill from him.
As for why he believed Chen Jianghe had a Foundation Establishment Pill...
It was naturally because of Chen Jianghe's close friendship with Alchemist Zhuang, a fact known to everyone in Qinghe Market City.
Moreover, Chen Jianghe had a precedent of selling Foundation Establishment Pills.
"I wonder, what is this life-saving opportunity you mentioned, fellow cultivator?" Chen Ping couldn't help but ask via voice transmission.
He was desperate to hear the words "Foundation Establishment Pill" from Chen Jianghe's lips.
"Qinghe Market City is in grave danger. You should leave as soon as possible, fellow cultivator," Chen Jianghe said via voice transmission.
"What?"
Chen Ping was stunned.
"It's not a Foundation Establishment Pill?"
"What Foundation Establishment Pill?" Chen Jianghe looked at Chen Ping with a puzzled expression, not understanding what he meant.
"Hmph~"
Chen Ping took a deep breath, a sense of irritation rising within him. He looked at Chen Jianghe and asked, "What do you mean, Qinghe Market City is in grave danger?"
"The Thunder-Patterned Crimson Flame Leopard auctioned in Qinghe Market City is related to the third-rank Thunder-Patterned Crimson Flame Leopard that appeared in the Beast Taming Market City. Furthermore, that third-rank leopard has already withdrawn from the Beast Taming Market City and gone deep into the Wandering Immortal Mountain Range. I estimate that in a few days, it will trigger a beast tide in Qinghe Market City."
"I have given you the news, fellow cultivator. Farewell!"
After speaking, Chen Jianghe quickly left.
"A beast tide?"
Chen Ping's expression changed drastically.
His contact with the Beast Taming Market City had been cut off long ago, so he didn't know a Thunder-Patterned Crimson Flame Leopard had appeared there.
Now that he knew, and thinking back to the secrecy surrounding the Zhou Clan's auction of the leopard, plus the recent premium on mid-grade protective talismans...
In an instant, he could discern the truth of Chen Jianghe's news.
"The manager left Qinghe Market City half a year ago, taking the third-floor manager and many valuable resources with him. It seems he must have known a beast tide was going to erupt!"
Chen Ping's face was as dark as water.
As long as a beast tide didn't reach the scale of the one in the Beast Taming Market City, it generally wouldn't harm the lives of the cultivators from the Hundred Treasures House.
But there were exceptions.
The manager of the Hundred Treasures House leaving with his confidants clearly meant he was being treated as a disposable pawn.
Because when a beast tide erupts, the manager can leave the Hundred Treasures House, but a manager must be left behind to continue running the business.
During a beast tide, the Hundred Treasures House earned spirit stones even faster.
Therefore, not only would the Hundred Treasures House not evacuate Qinghe Market City, but it would also continue its normal operations.
It would operate until the beast tide ended.
It could also end with the market city being destroyed and the Hundred Treasures House wiped out in an instant.
But they would have already earned enough spirit stones.
As for the cultivators working at the Hundred Treasures House?
After the market city was rebuilt, they could simply recruit more.
This news from Chen Jianghe was indeed a life-saving opportunity for him, no less valuable than a Foundation Establishment Pill.
"How am I supposed to leave?"
"The manager and the third-floor manager are both gone. I'm the only manager left in the Hundred Treasures House; I definitely can't leave."
"It would be fine if it's a small-scale beast tide, but what if it's a large-scale one?"
"Old Auctioneer Liu is still here. With his seniority, he is fully qualified to take charge of the Qinghe Market City's Hundred Treasures House during this period."
"I'll use the excuse of reporting the Hundred Treasures House's semi-annual performance to go to the Immortal Sect Market City to find the manager."
Thinking of this, Chen Ping delayed no longer and immediately went to find Old Auctioneer Liu.
---
Chen Jianghe didn't go straight home. Instead, he went to a training room in the southeast district, rented it for an hour, and performed a simple refinement on the four talismans in his hand.
Then he went to the housing agency to return the courtyard at number 512, Qingping Alley.
Even though this was the last year of the lease.
He could still get two spirit stones back. He wasn't going to let Qinghe Market City have them for free.
After finishing all this, Chen Jianghe returned to Qingping Alley, preparing to flee Qinghe Market City with Ruan Tieniu.
Even if Ji Wujin was setting a trap, he had no other choice at this point.
When buying the spirit talismans, he had noticed that the premium on mid-grade protective talismans had reached ninety percent. It could be said that the mid-stage Qi Refining demon hunters had gone mad.
In other words.
There were no more late first-rank demonic beasts in the outer areas of the Wandering Immortal Mountain Range; they were all mid- or early first-rank.
These demon hunters had begun their pre-beast tide frenzy.
If his premonition was correct, the beast tide would erupt within the next day or two.
He couldn't wait for Yun Xiaoniu to arrive in Qinghe Market City. He could only leave along the Wandering Immortal River, hoping to rendezvous with Yun Xiaoniu as soon as possible.
As for Luo Xiyue?
She hadn't come out of seclusion, so there was nothing he could do.
Before long, he returned to Qingping Alley. Turning the corner, he saw a beautiful figure standing in front of his courtyard gate from a distance.
"Luo Xiyue?"
Chen Jianghe quickened his pace and arrived at the gate, looking at the woman before him. She wore a white gauze blouse and a pale cyan long skirt, her features were cold and stunning, and her figure was exquisite.
Ravishingly beautiful and coldly arrogant, a peerless sight.
Who else could this be but Luo Xiyue?
"Brother Chen, you're finally here."
When Ruan Tieniu saw Chen Jianghe, he immediately ran over, looking as if he had just been granted a great amnesty.
It wasn't Ruan Tieniu's fault. The main reason was that Luo Xiyue was not only a master artifact refiner but also a Foundation Establishment cultivator.
Her cold and aloof aura was hard for a rogue Foundation Establishment cultivator like Ruan Tieniu to handle.
"Fairy Luo came looking for you and has been waiting for a long time. I invited her in, but she refused, insisting on waiting for you to return."
Ruan Tieniu said via voice transmission.
"Brother Chen, I used to only know that you had a deep relationship with Fairy Peiyao. I never expected you to have a connection with Fairy Luo as well. Your big brother is truly impressed today."
Chen Jianghe glanced at Ruan Tieniu, then smiled and walked toward Luo Xiyue, cupping his hands. "I've kept you waiting, Fairy."
"Is the news in the letter you left me true?" Luo Xiyue's phoenix-like eyes shifted, a glint of light flashing within them as she asked in a soft voice.
"Yes."
Chen Jianghe nodded with a solemn expression. "This is Fellow Cultivator Ruan Tieniu. He escaped from the Beast Taming Market City. Moreover, the premium on mid-grade protective talismans in Qinghe Market City has already reached ninety percent."
"If I'm not mistaken, the beast tide will definitely erupt within seven days at most."
Luo Xiyue's eyes were like the cold moon in the sky, shimmering with a chilly light. She looked at Chen Jianghe and pondered for a moment.
After a while, she asked, "Where are you going?"
"I'm going to Qiyun Mountain. Big Brother Ruan is heading north of the Heaven-Reaching River, and his route happens to pass through Qiyun Mountain," Chen Jianghe said.
"When are you leaving?"
"The sooner, the better."
Listening to Luo Xiyue's voice, Chen Jianghe thought that if not for its cold arrogance that kept people at a distance, it would be pleasant and comfortable to the ear.
"If you wish to leave Qinghe Market City, Fairy, you can come with us."
"Alright," Luo Xiyue said faintly.
Chen Jianghe was delighted. Being able to bring Luo Xiyue along greatly increased his safety factor.
"Big Brother Ruan, if you don't have anything else to attend to, we can leave Qinghe Market City now."
"What could I possibly have to do? I can leave at any time."
"Alright then, let's set off."
Chen Jianghe said, "To get to Qiyun Mountain, we need to detour through Mirror Moon Lake. It's best if we travel by water. It's safer and we can avoid rogue cultivators."
"Besides, not only will the large boats not charge us spirit stones, they'll even give..."
Luo Xiyue glanced faintly at Chen Jianghe, interrupting him. "No need to go to such trouble."
The next moment, Luo Xiyue waved her delicate hand, and a spirit boat appeared in the sky above Qingping Alley. It was thirty-four feet long and fifteen feet wide, shaped like a red koi.
Luo Xiyue flew onto the spirit boat.
Chen Jianghe and Ruan Tieniu were both stunned. They looked at each other, their faces filled with disbelief.
Luo Xiyue actually had a spirit boat!
Chen Jianghe was surprised because the materials for refining a spirit boat were hard to find, and the process itself was extremely difficult.
It required second-rank, high-grade artifact refining skills.
It wasn't that Chen Jianghe underestimated Luo Xiyue, but he felt that her actual age probably wasn't very old.
Probably about the same as his own.
Because Luo Xiyue had only been in Qinghe Market City for a little over forty years. According to Alchemist Zhuang, when Luo Xiyue first befriended Gao Peiyao, she was neither a second-rank master artifact refiner nor a Foundation Establishment cultivator.
There was a high probability that she had bought it.
The price of such a small spirit boat was anything but cheap.
The price of a top-tier magical artifact was like the difference between clouds and mud compared to a spirit boat.
"Get on."
Luo Xiyue's cold voice reached his ears, jolting Chen Jianghe's spirits. He patted Ruan Tieniu's arm and then flew onto the spirit boat.
Ruan Tieniu quickly followed suit and boarded the spirit boat.
"Brother Chen, I never thought I'd get to ride in a flying spirit boat like this. This is all thanks to you, haha..."
"Do you have any idea how much a spirit boat like this is worth?"
Ruan Tieniu said via voice transmission.
"No idea," Chen Jianghe replied.
"Actually, I don't know either, but I've heard that even a low-grade flying spirit boat costs over ten thousand spirit stones. Fairy Luo's spirit boat is definitely not low-grade."
"..."
Chen Jianghe didn't respond to Ruan Tieniu.
Instead, he looked at Luo Xiyue's back. This woman had given him a huge surprise.
Just then, the fish eyes at the front of the spirit boat shot out two beams of light, which converged to form a protective barrier.
*Swoosh~*
The spirit boat shot forward instantly, leaving Qinghe Market City in a single breath.
It flew along the Wandering Immortal River toward Mirror Moon Lake.
"A spirit boat?"
Ji Wujin stood on the street of Qingping Alley, watching the red koi-shaped spirit boat rapidly fly away from Qinghe Market City.
"How can a small market city like this have a mid-grade spirit boat! How am I supposed to chase that?"
With a thought, Ji Wujin flew out of Qinghe Market City on his sword, chasing swiftly in the direction of the spirit boat.
"It's no use. The speed difference is too great."
After chasing for several dozen miles, Ji Wujin had already lost sight of the spirit boat.
"I hope Duan Tiande is tough enough to intercept this spirit boat at the Luo Xing River," Ji Wujin thought, feeling a little helpless.
This was the first time since arriving in Qinghe Market City that he felt the situation had spiraled beyond his control.
The appearance of a mid-grade spirit boat had caught him completely off guard.
Suddenly!
At that very moment, Ji Wujin saw a dark cloud appear ahead, rapidly approaching him.
This caused his expression to change drastically.
"These beasts actually want to directly surround Qinghe Market City."
That was no dark cloud; it was a horde of second-rank demonic beasts. They had bypassed Qinghe Market City from the Wandering Immortal Mountain Range and were now encircling it from the east.
"Roar~"
"Roar~"
A series of demonic beast roars erupted from the southwest of Qinghe Market City.
"Baobao, hurry and run."
Hearing the roars from the southwest, Ji Wujin guessed that the demonic beasts were surrounding Qinghe Market City from two directions.
Although he had some protective measures, he didn't want to waste them on demonic beasts.
A purple light flashed on his bracelet, and a giant... white-furred rat appeared, complete with a pair of wings.
After Ji Wujin sat on the rat's back, its large wings flapped, stirring up a fierce wind, and it instantly transformed into a streak of white light, flying toward the distant horizon.
It was the same direction the spirit boat had disappeared in.
However, this winged white rat was much faster than Ji Wujin's own flight speed.
Its speed had nearly doubled.
Meanwhile.
On the spirit boat, Chen Jianghe and the other two turned to look. They could only see two dark clouds merging into one and then rapidly moving toward Qinghe Market City.
"Hiss~, Brother Chen, we just barely made it."
Ruan Tieniu said with lingering fear, "The demonic beasts are surrounding Qinghe Market City, just like they did with the Beast Taming Market City. They're cutting off all escape routes for the cultivators."
"Eleven second-rank demonic beasts, and hundreds of late first-rank flying demonic beasts. They're trying to intercept all the cultivators fleeing east."
"It's a good thing we were on Fairy Luo's spirit boat."
Listening to Ruan Tieniu's sighs of relief, Chen Jianghe also felt incredibly fortunate that he hadn't hesitated any longer in Qinghe Market City.
And that he hadn't left on a large river boat.
"Thank you, Fairy," Chen Jianghe said, cupping his hands.
A hint of shock also appeared in Luo Xiyue's bright eyes. It seemed she hadn't expected their departure to be so timely.
From Gao Peiyao, she knew of Chen Jianghe's character.
She didn't believe the news of the beast tide was baseless.
But this was too much of a coincidence.
The beast tide erupted right after they left.
If they had been just half a moment later, they might have been trapped in Qinghe Market City. She knew a little about the beast tide at the Beast Taming Market City.
A third-rank demonic beast was not something she could handle.
"I should be the one thanking you." Luo Xiyue's voice had softened considerably.
"Fairy Luo, you really should thank Brother Chen. Otherwise, the two of us would have left Qinghe Market City long ago," Ruan Tieniu said.
Then, he raised his eyebrows at Chen Jianghe.
"..."
Chen Jianghe shot a glare at Ruan Tieniu. He was still in the mood for jokes at a time like this.
Luo Xiyue, however, nodded in deep agreement. Because the letter Chen Jianghe had left for her was from a year and a half ago.
In other words.
Chen Jianghe had waited for her in Qinghe Market City for nearly two years.
Although she didn't know why Chen Jianghe had waited for her—perhaps it was because of Gao Peiyao—she was still very grateful to him regardless.
"I owe you a favor, fellow cultivator."
Luo Xiyue said coolly, then turned around, sat down cross-legged, and closed her eyes to rest.
"Huh???"
Chen Jianghe was overjoyed. He glanced at Ruan Tieniu and secretly gave him a thumbs-up.
"Brother Chen, that's a favor from Fairy Luo. You'd better thank me properly. Hmm~ In the future, your big brother will be counting on you to ask Fairy Luo to refine a top-tier magical artifact for me."
Ruan Tieniu sent a voice transmission, taking credit.
"Fairy Luo isn't one for jokes. You should joke less, Big Brother Ruan. Otherwise, if she throws you off the spirit boat, I won't be able to help."
Chen Jianghe responded with a smile.
With the favor promised by Fairy Luo, Chen Jianghe now had the confidence to ask the questions on his mind.
He then sent a voice transmission to Luo Xiyue: "I have a question I'd like to ask you, Fairy."
"Speak."
"Fairy, do you know how to increase the success rate of Foundation Establishment?"
"With both spirit and body at their peak, plus a Foundation Establishment Pill, one can basically succeed in breaking through to Foundation Establishment."
Chen Jianghe was silent for a moment, then sent another voice transmission: "Is there a way to guarantee success in Foundation Establishment?"
"Guarantee success?"
Luo Xiyue's fine brows furrowed. She turned to glance at Chen Jianghe before turning back.
"I don't know."
Her tone had become much colder.
Clearly, Luo Xiyue thought Chen Jianghe was just trying to make small talk.
Guaranteed success in Foundation Establishment?
How could that be possible?
She had never heard her master speak of a method for guaranteed success in Foundation Establishment.
Of course, one hundred percent success wasn't impossible. As long as one possessed a Heaven Spiritual Root or a Variant Spiritual Root, they could achieve it.
There were also cultivators with three-element True Spirits. As long as their spirit and body were at their peak, the spiritual energy of the breakthrough location reached the concentration of a second-rank, high-grade spirit vein, and they had a genuine Foundation Establishment Pill, they could also achieve one hundred percent success.
But Gao Peiyao had told her about Chen Jianghe's spiritual root; it was a five-element miscellaneous spiritual root. Therefore, his question about a guaranteed method for Foundation Establishment was just idle chatter.
Chen Jianghe shook his head helplessly.
It seemed Luo Xiyue knew the same as Gao Peiyao—that the true success rate of breaking through to Foundation Establishment was only realized when both body and spirit were at their peak.
"Ji Wujin told me to find him for a transaction after my body and spirit reached their peak. Could it be a transaction related to Foundation Establishment?"
Chen Jianghe suddenly recalled Ji Wujin's words from before.
He couldn't help but connect it to breaking through to Foundation Establishment.
While Chen Jianghe was lost in thought.
Ruan Tieniu wasn't resting with his eyes closed. Instead, his eyes were wide open, darting back and forth between Chen Jianghe and Luo Xiyue.
Especially the glare Luo Xiyue shot Chen Jianghe when she turned her head.
Combined with the scene of Chen Jianghe shaking his head helplessly afterward.
This made Ruan Tieniu think that the two might have had a quarrel, and their actions seemed somewhat intimate.
Once this thought arose, he couldn't suppress it.
Subsequently, a smile appeared on Ruan Tieniu's face. In his view, the closer Chen Jianghe and Luo Xiyue's relationship, the better.
That way, the modification of his top-tier magical artifact, the Profound Heaven Dragon Pattern Rope, would be settled.
If it wasn't modified, once he took it out to use, people would associate it with the demonic cultivator Lan Tianxiang.
He didn't want to become a demonic cultivator that everyone wanted to beat down.
Besides, he had obtained some opportunities from the storage bags of those three fellow cultivators that would allow him to refine a top-tier defensive magical artifact.
All of this required Chen Jianghe's help.
Ruan Tieniu was well aware of his own standing. If he asked for artifact refining services, he would definitely be kicked off the boat by Luo Xiyue.
Half an hour later.
The spirit boat entered the sky above the Luo Xing River.
"Boss, it's Chen Jianghe..."
"Hiss~ It's a spirit boat! Boss, should we still intercept them?"